Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-05-28
A Scrap Ot Arizona History
Graphically told by R. IT. Ctoate m q
 IaI1f.rrrHrr


 About the year 1856. certain Ysqui Iudian, with the uot uncommon name Of Juan, returned Co the ci;y Of Herm"s. lilo. m the State 0f Sonora, Mexico, at- ter three or four years Of desultOry wan dering amongst the various tribes and bands of the PHpagu Indians. who st that time, gs now, inhabited the cOaU- try lying or both sides of the lIUs sepgr- ating the United States from the Mex lcan State of Sonora. This Juan ws E by occupation a prOEpector one WiO makes business of searching through the mountains for veins of precious met Hl. He was noted in the mining dis tricts of Sonora for his good luck m finding paying mines. and many ucn hidglgo of his native State WAS then mxuriating m the results Ot hls discuv- cries.
 On his return, Juan lost no time n presenting himself before some Ot Lls old friends and patrons who were pos sessei of wealth and of a speculative turn of mind. aud lad before them the Is- suits ut h.s wEnier.nZs. He related Co them ihr story of hI5 discovery Ot a country that was fEbulog-lv rich "a tGe indications, to L.m well known, of yglu- of precious metal. at the same time he dis played to their RsiouIShei eyes smHu specimens of silver orc taken from the cG1ppirgs, intensely rich .n ciilJr.tcs, sulphuEets and .hGt gueenly metal native silver. His audience looked and iisteU- ed with wonder and delight. GDd could scarcely wait for EIm iO uuish hIs &C., count 70 ssurp him oi tLeIr eGSeruess Co follow Eim Go this new Fl DCr6lo.
 But the story was ouly Ebf tiuisued; much remained Co Je told that was Do; ,O pleasant to hear. Ihis delightful land. where the plata blanca could be had for the picking ID, was difficult Cf access: broad deserts mus; le crossed, here water wGs a lhiug unknown eG- ccpt duriug the short rainy st6scn of that almost tOrrid cline; mountains must be climbed, roads must De made, sad, trails found by which Co reach thIs wonderful valley and not the leas. UJ- stacle In the way was the unpleasant fact that the country was inhabited by pow eriul and warlike tribe of Indians, who. though not positively Rt War with their Mexican neighbors, would have DO deli cacy aboui "takingiin" little prospect ing expedition like the one to be led by our friend Juan. And stlll back ot these dangers lsy the most terrible one of alone that might well make the soul of Mexican shiver iu his tsn-colored cssket when the thought of IL crossed bis timid mind-the hiieous, the blood
 thirsty, the merciless Apache. For be 1t known that large and powerful Es
 were the Papagos, they were small aud weak compared tp the unuumberei -N sN who were wont at intervals to descend upon their villages like a wolf on the l foId"-E very avalanche of spears end arrows, sweeping the Papago warriors | into mother earth, and dragging the | PapsgO women sway e lifelong slGv- | cry far worse than death: and as0ve tine
 risk of unfriendilness on the par. 0t the | PBpBgos. the little party 0i adventuT5rs must prepare themselves 10 encounter | the much more dreadful danger 0f being | included ini one of these periodical massBcres that the Apaches were n .he | haOit of intiicting upon their victims | tlie PapagCs.
 | The dangers were many, the obstsc as | to be surmoustci were great; bat the prIze was irresistible. The difficulties were far away, the silver was before their ! eyes, and the expedition was organ | ized.
 The several members of the party be- ! gan tO prepare themselves for the jour ' uey, but with Do indecent has;s; for it ' must be borne m mind, that not even s | whole mountain of solid silver would | tempt cur noble Mexican. hIdalgO into | m undignIfied haste. BOT cause hlu; 70 | sEerve one iog or .It,le from that InbHfn | deiIoeration that CharHctefizs5 Lls every ' movement. SI in the course of a year ! or two for tradition makes DO accurate | note ot the time ] the party, consisting | ot some fifty or sixty souls. including | vagueEgs m0s-os. HTi DgOE-. providing | that such inferior humans as the latter ' have souls) set their faces vesOlusely to-
 wards the north, aud vlih ipyous spirits
 and unlimited hope. followed tLe'r si- | lent hut trustworthy leader. JC0n, Ia the direction m which lay tHeIr Hs yes U8- ! developed iOT,unss. l IL Is not esseutI.4 Co tut story that We ! follow these VeatugslUe NeXlcJ ns ! through their many W4EcrriEcs over l rugged mountains, dong VII Ing can ' uus, and across track.rss deserts. SuT- ! fee it to say that few months Cf hIrd-
 ship. deprivation, and endurance, weary ! days and sieepls-s nights. found them
 safely encsmped at the friendly PaPsgo
 village of Cahabi.
 1 The Indians. far from being unfrICu8- ! iy, were well please iu welcome the -e- | iucn of their old fleui Jlau, more Cs- | pecIally Gs be WIS -cc'mm6uIsd by i've
 or SIX representatives Uf the genie
 Gecente ( genteel people ) of Sonora:
 but much as they may have esteemed
 these latter percentages, intimate kuowi- | edge Ot ,hs Indian character leads the
 writer to believe that the numbcriess
 burros laden with Esflna .piuole. palCchE
 frI!oleS, cigarritos, and msscal, We're | quite ss welcome to their sight gs were
 the rightful owners of all there luxuries:
 and the reasonable possibility ot some
 share of the good things coming to
 their mouth through the natural avenues
 of trade led them Co adopt an mir O.
 frieudliness that the absence of these
 articles would never have prompted 4 few days ret was all that the
 patience of JuBu's followers would Ad-
 nit oi; ar q, with muscles yet sore md | limbs yet unrested they demanded Co b.
 led to the spot where the plata blanca
 (wEite sIlverj lay strewn in such won
 derfui prOiusIon.
 The narrative ot thIs expedition. writ ten by the Jesuit padre who accumpaa-
 Iel the party a Jesuit padre Is the iu-
 variable sttendent oi all factions of a public Ur private nature ID Mexican llfel fails tO relate whether the perseyering people. that had travelled so far and suf-
 fered so much, found Rt the end Of their | journey their widest hopes fully realiZ- ed, or were doomed 10 most wOeiul dis
 sppointment. But the subsequent hi--
 tory of the mines they came to see is
 such as to lead .l t5e inference that any reasonable hopes they may have enter tanned were realized. The first visit
 was to the Picacho nine, 70 named from
 being Gt the base Of a small isolated | peak near tbe center of the valley, IL
 vas then, as it IS now, except where de- | velopment has shown it to better ad ! vantage, but C collection Of thIn quartz ! seams, cOursing through primitive syen- | ite. exposed in some places, but for the most par. hidden beneath the drift from | the neIghboring hill; et with care and ! patience it might be traced for dis tance of two or three thousand feet ID an
 aasterly and westerly course. A careful l inspection of the quartz crOppinEs seems
 to have proven thst they had no grounds | so- roa-asrr fbaf- cr~fr1a CF f.I-.t -. [.